Pankaj Advani creates history by winning bronze at Six Red World Championship

Pankaj Advani of India plays a shot at the Six Red World Championship

Indian cueist Pankaj Advani has taken the bronze at the 2016 Six-Red World Championship with Scotland's Stephen Maguire. The 31-year old lost the semifinal to Chinese Ding Junhui, who will be fighting for top honours against Stuart Bingham of England, the favourite to win the tournament before its commencement.

The 8th edition of the tournament in Bangkok, Thailand, saw Advani perform exceedingly well in the initial stages before going down in a hard-fought encounter. Advani maintained a clean slate in the group stage with an all-win record. He defeated Welshman Dominic Dale, England’s Robert Milkins, Ryan Thomerson from Australia and local talent Phaitoon Phonbun. In the Round of 32, the Bengaluru resident whitewashed Germany’s Lukas Kleckers 6-0, followed by getting the better of Yuan Sijun of China in the pre-quarterfinal. In the quarterfinals, the Indian received a walkover from Michael Holt who withdrew due to personal reasons.

When asked how he felt about his performance, he said, "Ding is a phenomenal player. I got the better of him in the group stage but today he was the better player. I wish him best of luck for the finals.”

Widely regarded as the best cueist the country has produced, Advani created a record of sorts when he became the first Indian to win a medal at the prestigious tournament. "Winning the first medal for India in this championship and with this level of competition means you have done well. I am an outsider in this tournament and coming this far feels very rewarding."

SangSom 6 Red World Championship (called for sponsorship purposes) is a six-red snooker tournament, played with the six colour balls and six reds. Making his debut in snooker at only 17, the fifteen-time World Champion has two Asian Games gold medals and a long list of titles to his name. He is also the country’s youngest national snooker champion and the youngest to win the world amateur titles in both snooker and billiards a record eight times.

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Edited by Staff Editor